Inosuke

"It looks like he's been poisoned. Set him down first, and I'll work out what medicine to prepare based on his symptoms." Shinobu Kocho stopped when she heard Chiba Yo, then examined Zenitsu before speaking.

"All right." Chiba Yo gently set Zenitsu down as Shinobu Kocho had instructed.

Shinobu Kocho bent down to examine Zenitsu, then took out several vials. As she mixed the medicine, she said, "Fortunately, this poison isn't difficult to treat. This boy also used his Breathing Style to slow its spread, so he should be fine."

Chiba Yo breathed a sigh of relief at Shinobu Kocho's words.

"Thank you, Shinobu. There are also quite a few people suffering from the same poison back where I came from," Chiba Yo told her.

He had been so anxious that he had brought Zenitsu to find Shinobu Kocho first. After all, when he first met her, Kyojuro had told him that she was highly skilled with poisons.

If Shinobu Kocho hadn't come along this time, Chiba Yo truly wouldn't have known what to do.

"I see. I'll head over once I've finished preparing the antidote," Shinobu Kocho replied as she mixed the medicine.

Before long, she finished preparing it and injected the antidote into Zenitsu's arm.

Just then, the Kakushi members who had been following behind arrived.

"There. He's out of danger now. He'll be fine after some time to recuperate," Shinobu Kocho said as she stood up.

Chiba Yo turned to look at Zenitsu and saw that the blotches of poison on his face had indeed begun to fade.

Zenitsu regained consciousness, and the first people he saw were Chiba Yo and Shinobu Kocho in front of him.

The pain in his body and everything he had just endured made him burst into tears with a loud wail.

"Yo!!! It's really you! I thought I was dreaming! Listen, listen, that spider just now! It was so scary! It was going to turn me into a spider too..."

Zenitsu sobbed as he spoke, lunging toward Chiba Yo, his snot threatening to smear all over him.

"Yes, yes..." Chiba Yo humored him.

After hearing what Shinobu Kocho had said and seeing Zenitsu like this, Chiba Yo finally felt completely reassured.

"It was so scary! And Tanjiro and Inosuke left me behind! I couldn't find them anywhere..."

"Mm-hmm..." Chiba Yo nodded along. Although he responded, Zenitsu's rambling was so disjointed that he couldn't quite follow it.

Who's Inosuke...?

Chiba Yo wondered helplessly.

"Bandage him up, please." Shinobu Kocho suddenly smiled at the Kakushi members who had just arrived.

"Yes!" a Kakushi member answered respectfully, immediately taking out some bandages.

"Do you know what's even worse? He took Nezuko with him too! He took Nezuko somewhere so dangerous... boo-hoo... sob..."

"Right, right..." Chiba Yo continued to humor him.

And who's Nezuko...?

As Zenitsu rambled on, he suddenly found he couldn't make a sound. Looking again, he realized that the Kakushi member had wrapped him up like a mummy, leaving only his eyes exposed.

"Mmph... mmph..."

Zenitsu made two more muffled noises, but his movements soon stopped.

The joy and excitement of suddenly seeing someone he knew had briefly made him forget his pain. Now that he was wrapped in bandages, the pain immediately came flooding back. Even the slightest movement hurt terribly, so Zenitsu no longer dared to move at all.

Looking at Zenitsu, whose eyes brimmed with tears and whose utter despair was apparent even with only his eyes showing, Chiba Yo knew he shouldn't laugh, but he still felt the urge. Fortunately, he managed to hold it in.

"Yo-chan, could you show me the way? I'll go treat those poisoned people you mentioned," Shinobu Kocho said.

"All right," Chiba Yo replied, then led Shinobu Kocho and the group of Kakushi members to the place where he had found Zenitsu.

Zenitsu stayed behind, with two Kakushi members looking after him.

The group reached the place Chiba Yo had described. Quite a few people who had almost turned into spiders were crawling on the ground. Nearly all the hair on their heads had fallen out, but they didn't seem to have grown any stronger.

"Please inject them with the antidote I prepared," Shinobu Kocho told the Kakushi members who had accompanied them.

"Yes!" the Kakushi members replied, immediately following Shinobu Kocho's instructions and administering the antidote to those who were on the verge of becoming spiders.

The symptoms of those who received the antidote gradually eased, and more people who were about to turn into spiders gathered around Shinobu Kocho.

"Shinobu, I'll go take a look up ahead." Seeing that there were enough people here and little he could help with, Chiba Yo spoke to Shinobu Kocho.

After all, he had come to Mount Natagumo for the Twelve Kizuki and to test the Bright Red Nichirin Blade again. They still hadn't found the member of the Twelve Kizuki hiding here, and the only demon they had encountered was the one Zenitsu had slain.

"All right, go ahead," Shinobu Kocho replied.

She couldn't leave just yet. The treatment efforts here still needed her supervision.

With Shinobu Kocho's permission, Chiba Yo continued toward the center of the mountain.

I wonder if Mr. Tomioka has run into that member of the Twelve Kizuki... And from what Zenitsu just said, Tanjiro should be here too. I hope nothing has happened to him...

Chiba Yo felt a little worried as he thought.

The scenery flashed past him. Suddenly, Chiba Yo stopped. He thought he had just spotted something strange.

Retracing his steps a little, Chiba Yo saw someone wearing a boar's head, bound with rope and hanging from a tree.

It's a boy. He's badly injured, and someone even tied him up and left him hanging... Could this... have been Mr. Tomioka's doing...?

Through the Transparent World, Chiba Yo discovered that the person wearing the boar's head was a boy. Looking at the boy dangling from the tree, he suspected Giyu had done this.

It was probably meant to keep him from moving around. After all, his injuries were already severe, and Giyu still had to find the member of the Twelve Kizuki. Given his personality, this was very much something he might do.

Chiba Yo untied the ropes around the boy wearing the boar's head, hoisted him onto his shoulder, and found the nearest Kakushi members before handing the boy over to them.

"A boar's head!? What is this?" The sight of Inosuke startled the Kakushi members, but they still took him.

"He should be a member of the Demon Slayer Corps too. I'll leave him with you. I'm heading out," Chiba Yo said before leaving.

Now he vaguely remembered seeing this boy once during Final Selection. Back then, though, the boy had quickly run off shouting, "Pig assault!" so he hadn't left much of an impression on Chiba Yo.